Two Horses Held at First Health Inspection of FEI World Equestrian Games™ Dressage Competition

Mill Spring, N.C. – Sept. 11, 2018 – Top horse-and-rider combinations from around the world have arrived at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina, to vie for the top honors in this year’s FEI World Equestrian Games™. The preliminary day of competition began with the health inspection for the nearly 80 dressage contenders. While all four American partnerships advanced to the first stage of riding to begin on Wednesday, two horses, Australia’s Bluefields Floreno with Alexis Hellyer, and Portugal’s Bariloche with Vasco Mira Godinho, were held for reinspection. The reinspection will take place Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 a.m.

The Netherlands’ Hans Peter Minderhoud and Glock’s Dream Boy

Organized by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the FEI World Equestrian Games™ is held in the middle of the summer Olympic cycle once every four years. First hosted in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1990, this global event combines World Championships in the Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing and the Paralympic discipline of Para-Equestrian Dressage, in addition to Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining. Since the inaugural Games in Stockholm, they have subsequently been held in The Hague, Netherlands (1994), Rome, Italy (1998), Jerez, Spain (2002), Aachen, Germany (2006), Lexington, Kentucky in the U.S. (2010) and Normandy, France (2014). This week’s event will mark only the second occasion that the Games have been held on American soil.

The U.S. Trust Arena

Riders from various countries are not only hoping to take home the FEI World Equestrian Games™ top awards but will also aim to secure qualifying spots for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Tokyo, Japan by placing in the top six teams.

“Qualifying [for the 2020 Olympics] is what we hope to achieve, but also this is a great group of athletes with an amazing team of horses,” commented Robert Dover, chef d’equipe of The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage team, which consists of veteran riders Adrienne Lyle, Laura Graves, Steffen Peters and Kasey Perry-Glass. “Secretly I am optimistically hopeful for a medal or multiple medals as the week goes on.

“I am thrilled and honored just to be with such a super group of people,” Dover continued. “We are very fortunate to have the best owners, most fantastic grooms, great vets, super physios and the best manager and director of dressage, Hallie Griffin. Will Connell [US Equestrian Director of Sport] and a super staff at USA Dressage are behind us. We’re a really great group of friends, and we’re really very grateful.”

Having passed the jog, all four U.S. riders and their mounts will take part in the Grand Prix team competition on Wednesday and Thursday before they move onto the individual competition, the Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle, if they qualify. Graves brings with her the trusty Verdades, owned by Graves and Curt Maes, and Lyle will ride Betsy Juliano’s 11-year-old stallion Salvino. Perry-Glass will take the reins aboard Goerklintgaards Dublet, owned by her mother, Dianne Perry. Though Peters was originally slated to ride Four Winds Farm’s Rosamunde, upon arriving at the venue he made the decision to substitute his ride for Suppenkasper, an 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding also owned by Four Winds Farm.

Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper

“Needless to say, I’m the oldest guy with the youngest horse on the team!” Peters said. “We call him Mopsie. He’s a bit of an inexperienced young horse but just a pleasure to ride, and he’s a very talented horse. [Rosamunde] is doing well. During training camp she was doing just fine. Each day when we trained both horses, Robert [Dover], Debbie [McDonald] and the entire team felt like Mopsie was going better. It was simply a decision where we said if both horses were to put in a clean test over here, we felt like Mopsie could score a little higher. But [Rosamunde] is doing perfectly fine and is healthy.”

Though the impending Hurricane Florence and unfinished construction across the venue has been a note of concern for athletes, organizers and spectators, Lyle stated that the horses have at least settled in well and the facilities for the dressage horses are up to par.

Adrienne Lyle and Salvino

“Over in dressage land, it’s wonderful,” Lyle explained. “The stabling is great. It’s well thought out and every stall has its own fan. There are big matted aisles, and we’re right next to the schooling arenas. Everything is nicely condensed and we’re not running all around the property. The footing is great, the stadium is amazing that they’ve built for this, and it’s really impressive looking.”

Dressage competition will take place over the course of the week, with the team phases beginning Wednesday and team medals given on Thursday. Riders will qualify for the individual competition of the Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Friday from their Grand Prix performance.

Bermuda’s Annabelle Collins and Joyero VG

To view the FEI World Equestrian Games™ live stream, click here or subscribe to Horse & Country TV to watch daily coverage and one-hour discipline recaps here. Check your local NBC listings to see when NBC Sports is broadcasting dressage coverage in your area. The Grand Pix Freestyle on Sunday, Sept. 16, will air live on the Olympic Channel, part of NBC Sports Group.

To watch the Live@Tryon digital program presented by FEI, click here and subscribe to the FEI Youtube Channel for updates.

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